FLAP (Flexible Light And Power) Collaborative Project
About the FLAP Initiative
Order a FLAP bag and find out more information on the Timbuk2 FLAP page.
Questions? Visit our FLAP FAQ or e-mail flap [at] poptech [dot] org.
PopTech has partnered with the Portable Light Project and Timbuk2 Designs to prototype and field test an adaptable, affordable, portable source of flexible light and power (FLAP) that has the potential to benefit some of the 2 billion people worldwide without access reliable electricity.
The goal throughout has been to engage the PopTech community in an open, collaborative social innovation project — developing use cases, distribution strategies, and funding mechanisms, to bring the FLAP project to scale. FLAP prototypes were developed using an “open integration” approach based on the idea that people can co-create and adapt the ways FLAP bags are used to suit their needs. A deep commitment to community engagement drove all aspects of the design process.
Addressing Critical Needs
More than 2 billion people around the world live without electricity, most in extreme poverty.
The lack of a reliable source of electric power limits the ability of entrepreneurs, educators, health workers, humanitarians, citizen journalists, farmers and many others to meet pressing social needs. The result is persistently low incomes and few opportunities to improve their prospects and their family’s quality of life.
Traditional solutions such as kerosene lamps, candles, and disposable battery-powered lighting products are expensive, dirty, dangerous, and ineffective. In East Africa, people pay the equivalent of US$43 per year for non-renewable light sources. Among newer solutions, solar power can improve education, incomes, and healthcare, but large glass-based solar panels are heavy, fragile, and too expensive to manufacture and transport over rough terrain.
These challenges make it abundantly clear that a portable, sturdy, clean, and affordable source of energy for use in resource-constrained environments worldwide is a true necessity.
Our Response: The FLAP Bag
The FLAP project integrates a new 2-watt lighting and charging resource created by the Portable Light Project into the flap of a new type of messenger bag, created by Timbuk2. FLAP powers high brightness solid-state lighting for 10 hours with a 6-hour solar charge and provides clean energy through a USB port for charging cell phones, medical devices, radios, and many other tools.
The FLAP can provide mobile power and light for a diverse set of people and businesses: The FLAP USB can be used for a wide range of power needs, and in the evening, after panel exposure to sunlight, FLAP LED lighting has the potential to make education (be it reading, writing, or drafting), cottage industries (sewing and other crafts), and health care after dark possible in places where it simply wasn’t before.
Reasons why the FLAP initiative can be the first portable and adaptable resource for clean energy and light:
1) FLAP is portable and has a low carbon footprint:
The solar materials are flexible, lightweight and rugged. They are also very low in embodied energy; the manufacturing process creates 40% less carbon emissions than equivalent glass solar panels.
2) FLAP is adaptable:
Portable power and light technology (LED, drive pouch, and solar materials) is designed so it can be integrated into any textile. A power-equipped bag or a simple power-equipped textile flap that can be attached to bags, vest packs, or panniers adapts well to a wide variety of contexts and environments, in or out of doors.
3) FLAP is a clean energy platform:
FLAP provides a ready-to-go application “bundle” of renewable light plus clean energy via a USB power outlet. Any standard cell phone that can charge using a standard USB port can be powered via FLAP bag.
Field Testing
In August 2009, Erik Herman, founder of Ushahidi and a 2008 Social Innovation Fellow, took 10 bags — 5 to Ghana for the African Maker Fair and 5 to Kenya — for testing with entrepreneurs and small business owners. In Ghana, Eric and colleague Henry Addo also found local tailors who hacked the bags and reassembled them with local textiles.
In September 2009, 10 bags were placed on the Navajo reservation in Arizona where many people still live without access to electricity. FLAP bags were given to elders, many of whom tend livestock and do craftwork to survive.
In October 2009, 15 more bags were sent to Kenya. Some were distributed to coffee growers and dairy farmers through an organization called Technoserv. The balance were sent to the Daraj Academy, an all girls school, and The Village Enterprise Fund, an organization working with new entrepreneurs.
This approach has provided invaluable feedback and allowed for flexibility. As requests for the bags filter in via a growing network, we can expand the distribution regions and selected user groups in direct response to the testers’ expressed needs.
Getting Involved – The FLAP projects needs your help!
We want your help to continue developing the FLAP project, and are actively seeking new partners. Please post your comments and ideas on our blog, and email us at flap [at] poptech [dot] org with your ideas on distribution, use cases or funding.